How to Sleep When Someone Is Snoring?

Do you sleep (or try to sleep) next to someone who snores? If so, learning how to sleep when someone is snoring is going to be crucial.

There are several reasons to cure snoring, including increasing sleep quality, avoiding health risks, and enhancing daily performance. But meanwhile, you need to focus on managing the snoring issue to protect your health that may be suffering from not lack of good sleep as well as the closeness of your relationship. Read on to find out how to deal with your partner’s snoring.

Why Do People Snore?

Snoring is the sound made when a small part of the respiratory system vibrates while we are sleeping. This is much more likely to happen if there is a blockage, or the airways are smaller than they normally would be. The air passage may cause structures such as the uvula or the soft palate to tremble, resulting in a sound. It may vary from a quiet snuffling sound to booming snoring. Snoring therapy may be able to assist depending on the origin of the issue. Understanding how to get someone to stop snoring begins with finding the reason why they snore.

The most prevalent cause of snoring is nasal congestion. When we have a cold that clogs the airway passages, most of us wheeze, whistle, or snore. This kind of snoring, however, is generally transitory and goes away after you get well.

Snoring is a more persistent issue for many individuals. Some people snore regularly, which can be highly bothersome for anybody who shares a room with them. It’s hard to know how to make someone stop snoring because the reasons for snoring can vary. Snoring can indicate that we aren’t receiving enough quality sleep, and in rare circumstances, it can even be caused by breathing issues, which can be life-threatening if we fail to get the correct snoring therapy.

Some other reasons why people snore include:

• Drinking alcohol before bed
• Being overweight
• Smoking
• Lying on your backside sleepers snore much less

How to Sleep When Someone Is Snoring

If you’ve ever attempted to sleep next to a snorer, you know how difficult it can be to get a decent night’s sleep. Luckily, there are plenty of techniques you can use that will help you – and them – reduce their snoring to a level that will allow everyone to sleep much better. Here are some of the things you can try:

1. Wear Earplugs

One of the simplest and fastest options to help if you are sleeping with a snorer is to use earplugs to reduce or reduce the sound of your companion snoring next to you. There’s a wide range of options. For example, you could use affordable soft foam earplugs purchased at a pharmacy or silicone noise-canceling earplugs, intended for those who spend a lot of time in loud places (think rock concerts or airport runways, although when your husband snores, these will come in very handy too). If earplugs bother you, put on your noise-canceling headphones and listen to music instead (although these may be harder to sleep in).

2. Listen to White Noise

A white noise generator produces a constant, persistent noise that is relaxing to listen to. If everything goes as planned, you’ll be lulled to sleep, and the fact that your partner snores won’t be so much of an issue anymore. Some white noise devices also provide choices. You have the option of listening to the sound of ocean waves crashing on the beach or the sound of a waterfall. Alternatively, you can download a white noise or meditation app for your smartphone and use that instead.

3. Practice Meditation

Meditation can assist a light sleeper to overcome noise in general, but it can also help a light sleeper overcome one annoying noise in particular: snoring. Although mindfulness meditation can take some practice to master, it will often lead to deeper and more peaceful sleep and ensure you know how to fall asleep when someone is snoring. One method for unwinding using meditation is to shut your eyes and envision something positive. Providing a visual aid makes it simpler to concentrate and filter out the background noise. Aromatherapy or meditation tools may also help you relax, although this may not be something your partner will enjoy, and therefore you need to first make sure they won’t object.

4. Recite Sleep Mantras

You can try reciting sleep mantras as part of your meditation practice. They are simple, easy-to-remember sentences that you repeat to yourself as you are trying to go to sleep. By doing this, you not only block out the snoring, but you also relax your mind and allow sleep to come easier.

5. Change Your Partner’s Position

Some individuals find that sleeping on the back (rather than side sleeping) exacerbates their snoring. This is supported by research, and therefore if your spouse were to sleep in a different position, this could help you both. That way you won’t have to research how to ignore snoring, which rarely works. Positional therapy is often the best approach.

This doesn’t have to be difficult. Sometimes just a slight nudge in the night is enough to shift them to a new position and for the snoring to stop, or at least reduce it to a level that means you can get some sleep. However, sometimes a different approach is required, particularly if your partner happens to be a heavy sleeper. Anti-snoring aids can be of great use in this situation. For example, a head-positioning pillow, often known as an anti-snore pillow, assists in correctly aligning the user’s neck, making them less prone to snoring. An adjustable bed can also be very useful, as well as a cooling pillow if it will prevent your partner from sleeping on their back because the pillow gets too warm for them.

6. Sleep in a Different Room

It may not sound ideal, but sometimes you do need to think of yourself, and if the only way to get a good night’s sleep is to get that sleep in a different room, then so be it. This could be exactly what to do when someone is snoring and you can’t sleep.

If you go for this option, don’t feel guilty about it, particularly if it works for you. If you’re feeling lonely, make it clear to your partner that you would rather be together with them in the same room and bed. This might motivate them to make changes, including seeking medical help if the snoring is really bad.

How to Stop Someone From Snoring?

Knowing how to stop snoring is vital. Snoring is not only annoying, but 75% of snorers have obstructive sleep apnea (when breathing is interrupted during sleep for brief durations), which increases the risk of developing heart disease. So stopping them from snoring is vital if you want them to be healthy and to get a good night’s sleep. Here are some of the ways you can do it.

1. Suggest They See a Doctor

It might be that the reason you have a snoring partner is because of something entirely ordinary and simple, like their sleeping position or the fact that they have a cold. However, since snoring is a symptom of some nasty conditions, most notably sleep apnea, it’s worth suggesting that your loved one see a doctor, just in case.

2. Get Them an Anti-Snoring Device

There are a variety of anti-snoring devices on the market, such as anti-snoring gummies, which are easy to add to your daily routine. Or you might prefer a dehumidifier to remove excess moisture from the room. By researching the best anti-snoring devices for your specific situation, and by encouraging your partner to start using them, you could be saving yourself a lot of sleepless nights. After all, there are many ways of stopping someone from snoring.

3. Help Them Lose Weight

Being overweight can be a reason for snoring, so it makes sense that losing weight could be a way to reduce or eliminate heavy snoring. Of course, average-weight people snore too, so this idea won’t necessarily work for everyone. But if your partner has recently gained weight and it has caused them to start snoring, this can certainly be a helpful step. When you gain weight around your neck, it squeezes the interior diameter of the throat, increasing the likelihood of it collapsing during sleep and causing snoring. As one of the best partner snoring solutions, help your partner lose weight by exercising with them and eating healthier, and not only should the snoring stop, but you’ll both become healthier too.

4. Suggest They Avoid Alcohol

Alcohol and sedatives reduce the tone of the muscles in the back of the throat, increasing your chances of snoring. Snoring is exacerbated by drinking alcohol four to five hours before going to bed. People who do not snore ordinarily will sometimes snore after consuming alcohol. If your partner has had a drink, expect them to snore; this could be your time to sleep in a different room or try out your earplugs. If your partner drinks every day, this could be a problem in itself, and it certainly won’t be helping anyone to get a good night’s sleep; is it time to seriously look at your drinking in an objective way? Surely it’s better than learning how to sleep with a snoring partner!

5. Suggest They Open Nasal Passages

Another solution is keeping your nasal passages clear and open if your snoring begins in your nose. Doing this permits air to travel more slowly through the nasal passages. If your nose is blocked as a result of a cold or other obstruction, the fast-moving air is more likely to cause snoring.

A hot shower before bedtime might aid in the opening of nasal passages. To help even further, rinse your nose with saltwater – ideally while in the shower for maximum effect. This can be a great tip if you need to know how to sleep with someone who snores. Nasal strips may also be used to elevate and open nasal passageways if the issue is in your nose rather than the soft palate; again, seeing a doctor will help to determine this.

Key Takeaways

Can Someone Else’s Snoring Affect Your Own Health?

Snoring can be a major problem for both the snorer and their companion. While the health consequences of snoring and the often-associated sleep apnea are well established, less attention is devoted to the impact it may have on the spouse. Yet it really can cause some big issues. Here are some of them:

Hearing Impairment

Perhaps surprisingly, if you have a snoring partner, those snores can be loud enough to cause hearing impairment. Snoring has been shown in studies to cause noise-induced hearing loss, particularly in the ear closest to the snorer. In fact, sleeping next to a snorer is comparable to sleeping next to an industrial machine.

Sleep Deprivation

Other than the annoyance, the most obvious effect of snoring for most spouses is sleep deprivation. Often, the snorer’s companion is unaware of how often they are awakened from sleep. However, the research found that spouses of snorers were awakened 21 times each hour on average. All of these sleep interruptions pile up – spouses of snorers lose around an hour of sleep each night and are more likely to experience insomnia symptoms, particularly when they don’t know how to sleep through the snoring.

Memory and Focus

An odd sleepless night here and there is normally not a reason for concern, but continuous periods of disrupted sleep can induce daytime sleepiness, anxiety, lack of focus, poor performance and attentiveness, as well as cognitive impairment.

Weight Control

While we know that exercise and diet are important factors in weight management, it’s becoming obvious that lack of sleep is also a risk factor for obesity. Sleep deprivation increases the amount of insulin produced after a meal, encouraging fat accumulation. Obesity is significantly linked to the development of health problems such as type II diabetes and cardiovascular disease. When it comes to how to deal with snoring, weight loss is crucial.

Conclusion

Snoring might be part of life for some people, but in many cases, it really doesn’t have to be. With so many methods to cure someone of snoring, it shouldn’t be a major factor leading to relationship issues or lack of sleep. Try some of the solutions we’ve gathered above, and chances are you’ll never have to worry about how to sleep next to someone who snores again.